Better than the Worst
by Vulcan Halps
Summary: Cobb's team aren't the only extractors. Cobol pits team on team to see who will be pardoned. What happens if they fail?
1. Two by two

"Ah, gentlemen, our other guests have arrived," the man behind the oval meeting table turned as two women where lead into the room. His use of the term guests was clearly a loose translation as both females glared at the men in front and behind them. "Shall we begin?"

No one responded as the newcome women took in the three men already occupying the room. The man behind the desk was wearing an impeccable suit and the graying at his temples gave him a distinguished look without really displaying his age. The other two stood across from him near a large window that betrayed an endless cityscape. Both had hair that was slicked back into place with gel the younger one in a dark brown, the other blond. They were dressed in suits though neither looked anymore pleased to be present than the two woman opposite.

"I suppose I should start with introductions. Gillian Cross, Lucille Grigg, I believe you've heard of Dominic Cobb and his associate, Arthur—" His tone was more than perceivably condescending.

"We run in a very small circle, so yes we all know the rumors. Care explaining who you are or are we here to play at shoptalk?" the shorter of the females interrupted the man, who turned to her shocked.

He tsked his tongue sharply as one would a child. "It is quite rude to interrupt."

"Well, you called me Gillian." She cocked her head to one side. "Eye for an eye."

"Makes the whole world blind," Arthur added. The English brunette narrowed her eyes, but made no further comment. "We're listening. Why are we here?"

The man in the suit pulled on each of his suit coat sleeves then shook out his arms and spoke. "All four of you have had the misfortune to make the mistake of failing the corporation of Cobol Engineering. I am afraid that these mistakes that you have achieved are not to be easily forgiven. However, the corporation is willing to allow you one last chance. I suppose you are probably interesting just what they are looking for, but since you are the failures I will tell you first that the only reason why we are relying on you is because we expect you not to discover the answers we are looking for and would rather not be forced to burn another extraction team."

The taller woman rolled her eyes. "Is there a point to this?" she questioned in a soft Irish accent.

"Yes, he's getting to hear himself speak." The other responded her accent strengthening with her annoyance. "Oh and using long redundant words to mask hidden threats." Grigg laughed quietly at her coworker's joke.

"You have a low form of wit," he looked down on Gill. "The _point_ is simple. We need information and there are three people possess this knowledge. You may get it from anyone you want. The first team to procure is removed from the black list. The other is…" he shrugged.

Gill raised her hand. "What if we chose not to play? Does the other team get automatically reinstated?"

"Why would you not wish to attempt to achieve this goal?" He looked down at the short woman.

She smiled softly and calmly aimed a gun at him. "Because you're so bleeding pretentious and it's difficult to best me in that sense."

The guards began to move. Lucy glanced at Gill. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Gill pulled the trigger and the world shook. The guards reached the two women. Gill shot the first one in the head before the second knocked the weapon from her hand. "That's a neat trick."

As Gill defended herself from a trained man with a hundred pounds on her, Lucy scrambled for the gun against the now less polished businessman. Charm won over brains and the suit aimed the weapon at Lucy.

Spending a roundhouse kick to the guards midsection gave Gill a moment to address her partner. "Lucy, dream."

"Think it's his?" Lucy held up a hand to show her finger holding the clip of a grenade.

The guard pushed himself to his knees to get back up and Gill snapped his neck. "More are coming," the suit spoke but the hand holding the gun shook. And he was facing the two interrupting females, so the brunette man easily grabbed his arm from behind him. Disarming him, Arthur forced him to his knees.

"How did he get us all in the same dream?" Arthur spoke to the blonde behind him, Cobb.

Glancing over at him then at the door, Lucy laughed, "That's your most present concern."

"Lucy, the grenade," Gill interjected as the door shook. "And perhaps a maze."

The tall brunette threw the projectile at the furthest window and everyone dove underneath the large wooden table. The door burst open just before the grenade exploded. Gill used the distraction to slip out from under the table to the door. The first man through the door lost his gun and received an elbow to his nose for his trouble

Once the explosion cleared, Lucy moved the far side of the table and grabbed the files there. She tossed the other to nearest male, the blonde. His look was conflicted. Opening hers Lucy memorized the pages.

The suit made a move to struggle for the gun and Arthur shot him. The world shifted. The dreamers were prepared for it; the projections weren't. Gill let herself fall with the reversed gravity and met the disoriented guards with an upper hand and unexpected help. Arthur and Gill took out the projections. "Not shocking the suit's projections are pathetic," Gill commented as she glanced down the now empty hallway.

"I put up a maze," Lucy responded setting aside her folder.

Gill rolled her eyes, "Cheater."

"It's not cheating," Lucy protested with a smirk. "I took the time to memorize those mazes."

Walking passed her friend to the nonexistent window, Gill returned the smile. "Yes, the whole five seconds that takes."

The world started to crumble around and Lucy ran past Gill to jump out the window like a skydiver. Gill turned around spread her arms and feel backwards like performing a trust fall. Her face almost peaceful. And the world went black.


	2. Falling Short

Lucy woke first glancing over to the driver's seat. She watched Gill jolt from her chemically induced sleep. "Test," Gill quizzed with a smile, "Where are we?"

"On the car ferry from Calais back to Dover. Should be home by sundown," Lucy answered and teased with a smile. "Did you forget?"

"Nope, just making sure we're not trapped in your head," Gill opened the car door and got out. She walked over to the railing and leaned her back against it; her elbows propping her upright. Staring at the endless row of cars, her eyes follow two men. One had his hand in his pocket; the other was toying with a small object that caught the reflection of the sun.

Lucy followed her gaze. "Guess he wasn't kidding? So about what you said, are we competing?"

"What's your vote?" Gill turned the question on her as she turned her physical form to lean her elbows on the rail and look out over the English Channel.

Raising her elbows Lucy leaned her hip against the side railing. "We're voting now. There are only two of us. If I vote yes and you vote no, that's it."

"Why is that?" Gill's eyebrows came together.

Lucy laughed. "You'd have to be the extractor. I've rarely been in the subjects mind and wouldn't know how to gain the info. So if you don't want to. We can't."

"I guess we're up for the challenge, but neither of us are extractors. This may be more difficult than we anticipate." Gill's expression was grave as her eyes judged the waves beyond them.

The boat powered through the water with no impact from the waves of those before. "How hard can it be? You helped Lina."

"Yes," Gill sent her friend a wiry smirk, "and that is why I think we need to find a new extractor."

"Finding one that will work with you might be difficult." Lucy glanced at the cars behind them and the deck above. "You know there still here somewhere."

"Yeah, that suit is definitely dry clean only." Gill sighed. "If he follows us all the way to London, we'll drop in the Thames. Otherwise I doubt he'll be a bother."

Lucy worried her lip with her teeth. "Well, got some paper." She grinned. "I've got all this information floating around in my head."

"I'll grab some from the car." Gill walked back where they'd come from. She glanced at the car next to them. There was a black sports coat thrown over the passenger side door and a silver briefcase in the back seat. Her gaze flickered over the cars. The two men were missing. She reached into the car and checked the pockets of coat. A plane ticket from Heathrow to LAX was in the pocket assigned to Dom Cobb.

Pulling up the lock, Gill slipped into the back seat and opened the briefcase. One look was all she needed. Shutting the door, she remembered to lock the door again and fold the coat before grabbing a notebook and pen from her tote. Lucy was waiting for her at the café below.

"I ordered you chicken salad," Lucy commented as Gill set the notebook in front of her and held out the pen.

"Great," Gill leaned back and surveyed the room, "I'm starving."

Lucy chuckled. "Stop. It's not your fault and being hyperaware is more annoying than helpful."

"How long do you think we were out?" Gill asked, but didn't press the point as a curious-looking waitress set down their sandwiches and stayed for a moment making small talk. Gill played along until the waitress asked about Lucy's wring. Before she could sneak a peek, Gill slipped her 10 quid and asked for their privacy.

Glancing up Lucy rolled her eyes at her friend. "She's a waitress it's her job to make small talk and she's probably bored." She flicked her eyes around the room. "Everyone I see looks like a banker or an accountant. Hardly interesting stories, you should share a few with her."

"Funny and stop showing off." Gill's words were harsh, but her tone belied her amusement.

Aiming the pen in her hand at Cross, Lucy quipped, "My ability saved us twice in that dream. So no mocking."

"Well, you prove useful occasionally," Cross smiled and surveyed the room again. "When we woke up what time was it?"

Pausing Lucy thought back, "3:13"

"We got on the Ferry at a quarter to two."

"Yes, Gill, we sat in the car for a half an hour. And woke up on that fun little tour of a coward's brain." Lucy laughed. "You took his projections rather well."

"Yeah," Gill glanced back at Lucy thoughtfully, "his projections were rather weak considering he was trained."

Lucy nodded still writing in the notebook. "But he did want to talk to us."

Finishing her sandwich, Gill ate Lucy's chips until the latter swatted her hand away.

-x-

On the front of the ship where the water and wind kept the deck empty, Arthur and Cobb stood. "You can go back to the kids." Arthur was serious. He always was. "I'll handle this."

"How?" Dom asked quietly. "Have you been in contact with any one else on the last team?"

Arthur shook his head. "No, but I'll find a way to take care of this." He looked over the turbulent water. "Just go home to your family."

"You have a plan?" Cobb glanced at Arthur his eyebrows raised.

Nodding Arthur turned from his old friend. "And you aren't invited." Cobb chuckled a little. The sound was different than Cobb's usually brooding. Arthur smiled.

White was gleaming in the distance as they headed back to the cars. Two women laughed as one stole the last chip from the other's bag. "Pay back for eating all of mine," Griggs laughed again and ran for the car.

Following several steps behind, Cross tossed the now empty chip bag in a rubbish bin. When she looked up her gaze caught the two men. Without acknowledgment she headed for her car. Both teams got in their cars and waited for the vehicle in front of them to move. Cross tapped her fingers against the wheel.

"They lost their architect on their job with Cobol; we lost our extractor. Think Cobol is cursed? Or just really unlucky?" Lucy wondered aloud. "I mean two teams. Maybe their picking the wrong marks or just really need to stop delving so deep in business when they don't know anything."

"Clearly you're in a positive mood today." Gill flicked on the radio and glanced over at the car next to them.

Lucy toyed with the ring on her finger a second. She dropped her hands in her lap when satisfied. Changing the radio station she looked over at her colleague. "What?"

"Stopping worrying this isn't a dream."

"Says the woman who regularly forgets her totem," Lucy scoffed. "Just because we're not in your dream doesn't mean we're not in anyone's."

Cross stared straight ahead. "We know how we got here. And let me worry about my totem. I know where it is."

"Fine." Lucy changed the station again. "So who are we going to look at for a new extractor?"

"Luis probably has a few names. I'll call him when we get back to the flat." Cross put the car in gear. "We'll figure it out."

Lucy glanced passed Gill. "Kind of unfortunate. If we succeed, they die."

"We're all small fish. Cobol might chase us down for awhile, but they'll lose interest and go back to torturing someone else. They did last time." Cross responded as the drove off the ferry into the shadow of Dover Castle high on the cliffs. She just didn't mention that last time Cobol wasn't making an example of them.


	3. Pulling Together

When Gill walked in she found Lucy asleep with papers strewn around the table in front of her. Lucy had written down and drawn every piece of information she gleaned from the suit's dream. With two fingers, Cross twisted one of the drawings to see a rather bitter looking woman gazing at her.

Her phone rang and Gill walked away from her sleeping friend to answer. "Hey, Luis, have you found anything?"

"You know, Cross," Luis answered in a tone that didn't bode well, "extractors really have to be down and out to be willing to work with you. I can't even find one that hasn't heard about what happened to Melinda. And I have to tell you the general consensus is that her fate was your fault."

"If you're calling just to say you haven't found anyone, save the speech and simply say no." Gill cut in. She was rarely in the mood for long winded explanations, even when they had the potential to have a positive outcome. And Luis's speech implied less than favorable results.

Luis sighed, "Would you just listen to me? I'm trying to explain to you why you need to accept that there is only one extractor who is going to be willing to help you." Closing her eyes and suppressing a groan. There were only two extractors in the world that Gill would rather get a root canal than work with and she knew Luis was about to name one of those names. "Alex Parks."

"What?" Gill hissed. She threw a glance over at her sleeping coworker and knew she couldn't yell at her contact. Alex Parks wasn't even an extractor she would have considered. Alex had a history with Mel. That had ended with him refusing to ever work with her again. Gill had assumed that meant Mel's team as well. "Why would he be willing to work with us?"

"Gill, you asked me to find you an extractor. And you have those two that you won't work with so that limited me. And then no one wants to work with you, so that left Parks. He was interested. I didn't ask why. He said if you needed his help to get into contact with him." Luis was clearly frustrated. "He didn't leave any contact information, but I can ask around if you want me to."

"No, I can get ahold of him." Gill paused to think. Not liking being backed into a corner. "And Luis, thanks."

She knew that their old acquaintance was nodding sadly. "It's always nice to help you ladies out. If you need anything else, let me know."

Gill didn't know what to say. He was honored that Luis cared so much, but also fully aware that if he was showing this much emotion he thought they were going to lose. "We're alright. Thanks again." She hung up. What she wanted was an idea to save all their lives. She didn't like the idea that someone else would be dead if they managed to succeed.

Despite her reservations, Gill collected the papers that Lucy was turning into a pillow. Carefully, she copied the information into her laptop and started researching the three marks. Technically they were all marks, since she didn't know which one they would settle on. So she treated all three as such. In the midst of her research she looked up, Alex Parks contact information.

When she started to feel stiff sitting in front of the computer, she stood and stretched. Grabbing her phone, she headed into the kitchen. "Parks," was the one word answer after the second ring. Gill grabbed a mug from the cupboard next to the sink.

"Alex Parks, this is Gill Cross." Gill spoke into the phone, clear and distinct. Her normal detached aura making her sound even more apathetic. "I was told you might be willing to lend a hand in our current assignment."

Even though Mel made it very clear she never wanted anything to do with Alex Parks, Gill kept at least basic information on the rest of the extracting world. Since his name was added to the willing-to-aid-in-hell list, she'd looked a little deeper. Based on her research she expected a harsh reaction, Parks was known for not walking into a situation lightly. So the last thing she expected him to do was laugh.

Gill hung up. She was beginning to understand why Mel didn't like the man. There were people threatening to kill them and he was either playing a prank on them or had a really inconvenient sense of humor.

Setting the kettle on the stove, Gill grabbed tea from the basket on the counter and a spoon from the drawer. She was still searching for the honey, when the phone rang again. "Hello." It was a statement, not a question. The number was already programed into the phone, Gill wasn't certain why he was returning her call, but she answered as if she had been expecting it.

"Gillian Cross, I apologize for my reaction earlier," he said the words most likely to appease, but his tone was laced with the laughter he had answered her with earlier.

Bristling, Gill was tempted to tell him that she didn't appreciate his humor. But she figured she'd hung up on him; so she owed him. "Perhaps you would like to explain?"

He was silent for the better part of a minute. "It's just you were so formal. Luis made it sound like you were desperate. Clearly you aren't. And yet I was certain you would never consider my help unless as a last resort."

"You are the last resort."

-x-

It took Arthur the better part of the afternoon to convince Dom to board the plane in Heathrow. Most of that had to do with the fact that he had yet to come up with a plan for how he planned to best Cobol in their newest idea. They really did seem to think they had to control everyone. After all four people had screwed up two jobs. Yet they would go to these lengths to show the extracting world that no one messed with Cobol.

They were to be the example, so that no one would mess with them again, which meant that Arthur was going to have to call the last person he wanted to. "Hello," answered a smug British accent.

"I suppose you've heard." Arthur's tone was solemn considering his intense dislike for the Brit.

Wind was whipping by Eames's phone but his response was clear enough. "Yeah, Dom called yesterday."

"And?" Arthur asked sounding relatively disinterested since he was pretty sure he already knew the answer, but even Eames knew how to surprise him.

"I told him I even be willing to help you."

Arthur nodded even though Eames couldn't see him. "Who else did he call?"

"Yusuf, to let him know that you may need him again. Cobb was on better terms with him than you after the Inception-dying-limbo thing that he conveniently didn't tell us about. Saito, though I think that was mostly to inform him that whatever he tried with Cobol clearly didn't work. And they may very well be after him too." Arthur waited but Eames drew out the silence. Until finally he added, "He didn't call her, mate. Don't know if he figured she shouldn't get involved again, or thought you should be the one to ask, but she hasn't been told."

Arthur didn't immediately answer to Eames's comment. His brain was operating on moment-to-moment. He felt very much like he was in a wake dreamscape where every move he made should be calculated. Eames's voice broke through his thoughts. "You still there?"

"Yeah, just wondering how you got through an entire conversation without mocking me." Arthur paused considering his options.

"You clearly haven't been paying attention," Eames quipped.

Arthur nodded again absentmindedly, "How soon can you get to London?"

"Booked on the next flight," Eames was already on top of things, which was rare for him. But he wasn't about to let this go. "What about Ariadne?"

"We'll see. I'd like to know what we are dealing with before we involve her."

"It's Cobol. If they are calling up their burned team, this isn't going to be doddle."

"Still I want a chance to look at things before we resort to calling her."

Eames sighed, "I don't know about you but if I was getting goosed up for Christmas dinner, I'd want the best helping."

"That's the difference between us, Mr. Eames," Arthur countered calmly, "I wouldn't risk the best just to save myself."

"She's going to be pissed when she finds out we call her last." Eames shook his head at the phone.

Arthur sighed. "We'll see where we're at when you get here."


End file.
